Cricket: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum ended his one-day international career with a series victory over Australia yesterday with his side sealing a 55-run win in the decider at Seddon Park in Hamilton. New Zealand, who were all out for 246 in 45.3 overs, managed to dismiss Australia for 191 in 43.4 overs to give them a 2-1 series win that helped them retain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. McCullum, 34, is retiring from all international cricket at the conclusion of the two-test series against the same opponents.

Tennis: Second seed Misaki Doi cruised into the second round at the Taiwan Open in Kaohsiung. The Japanese player took just over an hour to defeat Kristyna Pliskova 6-3 6-4 and will next face Yafan Wang or Magda Linette. Urszula Radwanska could face top seed Venus Williams next after her 6-4 7-6 (7/1) win over Hsu Ching-wen, with the American due to face Lee Pei-chi in her first-round match.

Rallying: Rally Sweden organisers have axed eight of the event’s 21 scheduled stages after unusually warm weather threatened to force the cancellation of the second round of the world championship this weekend. The season’s only pure winter event, with cars using special studded tyres on frozen roads covered with snow and ice, starts on Friday and ends on Sunday. However, rain and daytime temperatures of around four degrees Celsius in the region around Hagfors had triggered fears that the studded tyres would damage the soft surface and make conditions too dangerous. The organisers submitted a revised route.

Basketball, NBA: Chris Paul came good as he inspired the LA Clippers to a 100-93 win over the Miami Heat. Paul, who endured his worst ever single-quarter shooting record after going 0 for seven in the opening 12 minutes, ended up being the hero as he threw in three consecutive three-pointers late on to kill any hopes of a Heat comeback.